The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan smirked, "In your damn dreams," and moved towards the river.

"P*ssy..." Jin Wang responded, trying to make Hao Xuan mad and help him out but it didn't really work out. Hao Xuan simply smiled back, "You got me!"

He carefully moved closer to the river, ready to be attacked but nothing happened even when he stood on the very edge.

"Baracus, what other uses would this stuff have? Should I get some for myself?"

*Beep*

"If you can but I wouldn't try too hard. It probably belongs to someone," Baracus's robotics voice poured a bucked of cold water over Hao Xuan's head.

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this liquid is a rarity in the cultivation world. Even a few liters would be enough to fight wars for, so imagine this much. Do you really think you're the first one to find it? It would have taken thousands of years to create something like this but why is just flowing freely? Why is no one guarding it?"

"Well, the mist-" Hao Xuan interjected but Baracus quickly cut him off.

"The mist is nothing to anyone above the Profound realm. They can destroy it with a wave of their hand and take as much of this liquid as they want. I'm talking about actual protective measures."

Hao Xuan stood at the riverbank, rubbing his chin in deep thought. Baracus was spot on. This river was almost priceless and yet nothing was protecting it. How could it be so easy?

He put up his guard even more.

"Oi, let's get out of here," he said to Jin Wang and jumped over to the other side. Jin Wang stared at Hao Xuan's back speechlessly. How could he just leave a literal treasure trove here?

He threw a few covetous glances at the river before shaking his head.

"Tsk tsk tsk, rich people sure think differently," he mumbled to himself and followed after Hao Xuan.

A minute or so after they left, a few air bubbles came up from the river, in front of the exact spot where they had been standing just moments ago. A full head of hair and a pair of bright purple eyes emerged from the purple river and stared in their direction before disappearing back inside like it was never there.

Neither the purple river nor the blue mist above it reacted to that 'being's' presence in any way. In fact the purple liquid parted on its own so as not to even put pressure against it.

The duo walked for 40 more minutes before coming up to another purple river. This one was slightly larger and was flowing from right to left, which was in the opposite direction.

Hao Xuan leaned over the river's edge and stretched his neck as far out as it would go. He looked left and right but couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Is that...normal?" he thought out loud.

"Nope. Have you ever heard of rivers flowing in the opposite directions? And this one's flowing up, not down," Jin Wang pointed out.

Hao Xuan kneeled down and tried to tough the mist and it had the same reaction, only much stronger. Instead of simple blades, the mist turned into a myriad of different things including beast claws, mouths, and other appendages.

"Is it just me or does that get creepier the more you look at it," Jin Wang said observing the river from afar.

The liquid flowing through this particular river seemed more... rowdy. It seemed more alive and reactive. Even with Hao Xuan just standing near the edge, a thick clump of it the purple stuff was coagulating below his feet.

It seemed like it was 'observing' him. Even though it had no eyes, Hao Xuan could feel that it was somehow looking at him. He awkwardly moved his hand left and right.

"H-Hello..."

The clump of liquid reacted. A round tentacle came out from its side and mimicked Hao Xuan's actions.

"It's conscious!" Baracus who was observing everything shouted. That was the first time Hao Xuan had heard such amazement from his voice.

"What? What does that mean? Is it that important?" Hao Xuan asked.

"Of course it's important! It mimicking your actions proves that it is conscious and might even have higher brain functions. Although, whether it has a brain or not is an entirely different thing, but this discovery is extremely significant! And..."

"O-Okay...I guess," Hao Xuan just nodded along, not bothering to stop Baracus.

They stayed there for a little while longer before continuing the journey. They jumped over this river as well and went further in.

The path now not only went deeper but lower. It was starting to get colder and they could even see their own breaths in the light of the torches. The path that had always looked like it was made by beasts was looking more and more man-made.

There were tool marks, even a few primitive drawings every few kilometers. There were several intersections on the way and each one had some sort of symbols on it which all pointed the same way, further in.

Even Fortis was feeling cold now so he slipped into Hao Xuan's shirt and poked his head out just enough to be able to see what was happening.

"Stop!" Hao Xuan grabbed Jin Wang's shoulder just as they were about to reach another intersection.

"Someone is coming!" his ears twitched and he could clearly hear the sound of footsteps coming their way. It didn't sound like a beast, but a human. Or at least something on two feet.

Jin Wang and Hao Xuan both backed up a few steps towards a corner nearby and poked their heads out to observe the incoming visitor. What kind of creature would be living so far deep inside this cliff?